HAY RIVER
The spotlight was on the NWT's apprentices recently as the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment named the recipients of its top mark awards.
The recipients of the 2011-12 Apprenticeship and Occupational Awards are presented on Feb. 6, at the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment service centre in Hay River. Recipients include Taylor Webb, from left, Dennis Park, Michael Young, Sean Ahenakew, Cody Williams, Tyler Buyzat, and Dale Froese. - Angele Cano/NNSL photo
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For Blue Diamond Enterprises heavy duty technician Taylor Webb, far more important than accolades, is the ticket that recently turned him from an apprentice, into one of Hay River's newest certified journeymen.
"I was always employed but I had a friend that told me it was important to get my ticket in the trade or it really doesn't matter. You gotta have the papers saying you're capable of doing the work," Webb said. "Without your ticket, you can't be taken seriously. It gives you some credibility in the field."
Born and raised in Hay River, Webb, 32, has been doing mechanical work all his life, but without working under a trained apprentice or being registered in the apprenticeship program.
He then enrolled in the four-year apprenticeship program, and when he was not working in the shop repairing and maintaining trucks in Blue Diamond's fleet and customer equipment under two certified journeymen, eight weeks a year he was taking classes at Grande Prairie Regional College in Fairview, Alta.
"The technical training and the time under a journeyman definitely improved my skill and ability," he said.
This past February, Webb was presented the Karl Meyer Award for being the top graduating apprentice in the industrial mechanic (millwright) or heavy duty technician trade.
The award was founded by BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. in memory of employee Karl Meyer, who died in 1999, said the department's regional superintendent, Jacqueline McLean.
"It's nice that there is industry recognition," McLean said.
There are approximately 119 registered apprentices in the South Slave region, McLean added, which includes Fort Resolution, Katlodeeche First Nation, Enterprise, Fort Smith and Hay River.
Skilled tradespeople are in demand and earn a good wage, McLean said, encouraging young adults to consider trades and technical occupations as a post-secondary choice.
"For workers, apprenticeships offer a way to combine on-the-job skills development with technical training to become a skilled tradesperson while being paid by their employers," she added.
North Slave regional superintendent Michael Saturnino recently told Yellowknifer that the number of participants in the Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification program, which has been around for nearly 50 years, has grown more than 40 per cent in the past 10 years.
"And there's still room to grow even more," he said.
The program currently covers 53 designated trades and 25 occupations, the most common being carpenter, electrician, heavy equipment technician, automotive service technician, security officer, building trades helper, and environmental monitor.
Currently, there are approximately 450 apprentices in the territory.
